The Six Largest Dispensary Chains in Colorado

Even as other states get in the pool, Colorado's marijuana industry still has plenty of retail outlets, with almost 700 dispensary licenses in the state. Nearly 30 percent of those are for addresses in Denver, which remains the capital for cannabis in Colorado.

All of that chum in the water has raised some fat sharks, though, with a handful of early adapters growing to chains with outlets in the double digits. Among them:

LivWell Enlightened Health
25 locations
Founded in 2009 by New Zealand native John Lord, LivWell became one of the state's largest dispensary chains after recreational sales began in 2014 in Colorado. Although a few things have changed behind the scenes, LivWell's footprint has only increased in Colorado, going from fifteen dispensaries to 25 over the past five years thanks to the acquisition of the Clinic dispensaries and new stores on East 17th Avenue and in Broomfield and the Denver Tech Center, among others.

In 2021, LivWell agreed to be sold to PharmaCann Inc., a privately held cannabis company in Illinois with dispensaries and cannabis brands in multiple states. LivWell is now one of PharmaCann's largest branches, with three additional stores in Michigan and a handful of growing operations and infused brands. Most of the LivWell dispensaries in Colorado are in the Denver area, but the company has several stores along the Front Range and in southern Colorado, too.
Native Roots
21 locations
Native Roots grew quickly after first opening in 2009 as a medical marijuana dispensary on the 16th Street Mall, becoming one of the state's biggest operations — as well as one of the few major players that haven't sold to an out-of-state company. Native Roots has dealt with ownership issues and had to close the original store on 16th Street in 2018 after a zoning dispute with the City of Denver, but that hasn't stopped the company from spreading across Colorado. Even in the face of an industry recession, Native Roots has kept stores running, opened a new dispensary in Grand Junction and launched a variety of new product lines.

The Green Solution
Nineteen locations
The Green Solution's retail experience is one of the most user-friendly in Colorado, with a vast but organized inventory of products. The company was founded in 2010 by the Speidell family and sold to publicly traded Columbia Care in 2020 for a $140 million package, $110 million of which was in Columbia Care stock.

Upon closing the deal, Columbia Care converted three locations into Clearance Cannabis Company locations, all of which are now closed; Columbia Care also sold the Green Solution in Longmont because of local rules banning ownership of more than one store in town. There are now nineteen Green Solution stores in Colorado, with fourteen in the Denver area. Columbia Care agreed to an acquisition merger with fellow cannabis giant Cresco Labs in 2022, but the two agreed to terminate the agreement last year, keeping the Green Solution under the same ownership.

Star Buds
Nineteen locations
Owned by Schwazze, a Colorado-based publicly traded cannabis ownership company, Star Buds has become one of Colorado's largest dispensary names in recent years, thanks to new stores in Fort Collins, Glendale, Lakewood, Ordway, Pueblo County and Rocky Ford. If we were to count the six Emerald Fields dispensaries in Colorado that Schwazze also owns, then Star Buds would be tied with LivWell for outposts in the state. According to Schwazze, however, the company views Emerald Fields as a luxury boutique experience compared to the more casual retail approach at Star Buds. There are Star Buds dispensaries in Illinois, Jamaica, Maryland, Mississippi and Oklahoma, as well, but those stores aren't owned by Schwazze.
Green Dragon
Seventeen locations
Green Dragon became a major dispensary operation in Colorado a few years after recreational pot sales began, opening new stores in mountain communities and Denver suburbs. From 2019 to 2021, along with opening new stores in Capitol Hill and Fort Collins, the company also bought a handful of older dispensaries in Boulder, Denver and Edgewater.

In 2021, Green Dragon and Eaze, a California-based cannabis delivery company, announced that Eaze had agreed to acquire Green Dragon's fifteen dispensaries in Colorado and two in Florida. Green Dragon's founders sued Eaze in 2023 over alleged fraud during the acquisition negotiation. While that lawsuit is ongoing, the Green Dragon brand has kept expanding in Colorado and in Florida; in fact, there are now more Green Dragon dispensaries in Florida, where medical marijuana is legal, than in Colorado.

Igadi
Ten locations
Igadi was founded in 2015 as a store in Tabernash, and is still privately owned in Colorado. It's the only dispensary chain on the list without a store located in Denver, but Igadi has several outposts in the metro area, including a new store that opened in Golden in 2023. Igadi also has dispensaries in Central City, Granby, Idaho Springs, Lafayette, Louisville, Lyons, Nederland and Northglenn.